1919 Utah Death Certificate

The death certificate has Jorgenson. Studying the birth and death dates and parents and places of birth it is obviously Hans Torgersen's

Husband of Anna Olsen Torgersen

Life Sketch of Hans Torgersen

Contributed By Charnae Wariner · Aug 27, 2013, 9:48 PM · 2 Comments

Hans Torgersen, an only child, was born 6 Nov 1842 in Aarkvisla, Lier Buskerud, Norway. He was christened 15 Jan 1843 in Frogner, Ch Lier, Buskerud, Norway. His father, Torger Hansen, was born 13 Oct 1808 in Aarkvisla also. His mother, Johanne Kirstine Andreasen was born 28 Sept 1812 in Bragernes, Drammen, Busherud, Norway. His parents were married 13 July 1842 in Frogner, Ch Lier, Buskerud, Norway. They were later sealed in the Manti Temple, 17 March 1893 as husband and wife and Hans was sealed as their child on 29 June 1943 in the Manti Temple. Although he was the only child in his family he made up for it by marrying a wonderful lady who came from a family of eleven children and they had thirteen of their own. He married Annie G Gurine Olsen 13 Dec, 1862 in Frogner, Norway when he was 20 years old and she was 19. His main occupation was that of logging and sawing lumber but he was also a shoemaker, blacksmith, butcher, carpenter, wheelright and a handy man of all trades. He had graduated in Norway as a wheelright, but here one had to do many things. He owned a large sawmill in Norway about a mile from where they lived in Drammen. Hans Torgersen, his wife and 6 children boarded a sailing ship for America in 1875. He was so deathly sick with nausea that it left most of the work for his wife and Christena who was the oldest girl. Hans slept on the deck while the waves splashed water upon him, but he was to sick to care. Their next journey was across the continent to dear old Utah, and they made this trip by train which took them to Salt Lake City. Some friends were waiting there for them and took them in a covered wagon to Ephraim to their cousin’s place who had helped finance their journey to America. Mrs. Johannah Johnson, Annie's cousin from Ephraim had helped finance many of the poor immigrant’s trips across the ocean and now felt it her duty to help her relatives. It was because of her liberality that this dear family was able to come to the United States. They arrived in Ephraim on July 24, 1875 and Mrs. Johnson had a house ready for them to move into. It was equipped with the bare necessities of housekeeping and a place to call home. They stayed there during the summer to help her care for her farms because she had done so much for them. Hans did carpentry and butchering to keep them in meat and the children glean¬ed the fields for wheat to make bread. While in Ephraim they had a son, Edwin, who was born 6 Nov 1875. He died on 4 Feb 1876. On 4 Jan 1877 Eric was born while still in Ephraim. After about 3 years there they had a desire to move southward and take up new land and develop it. In 1876 the family moved to Grass Valley where he had quite a number of saw mills through the years. The Indian Peace Treaty was settled in the Cedar Grove between Koosharem and Burrville, as the Saints were moving into this little valley. His first mill was at Hancock flat. It was called an up-today-and-back-tomorrow mill, because the saw ran up and down. His next mill was at Twin Creeks at Fish Lake. It was also run by water. He moved from Fish Lake to Pleasant Creek and from there to Koosharem Canyon. He and the boys sawed lumber all summer and hauled it to Koosharem and put it on his lot. In the fall he would haul it to Salina or Nephi to sell. On one of the trips to Nephi, Mary wanted him to bring her a doll so she tied a string around his finger so he wouldn't forget. He remembered the doll alright and they still have it today. Hans was a hard working man and strong as an ox. In his best years no one wanted to tangle with him in a fight, not even a bear. When he made something it was made well. He built a grainary down in Box Creek that still stands. There is a Rug Loom on display in Cedar City, Utah at the college, which he made many years ago. There are also chests of drawers he made still being used today by Ruth Brown, his granddaughter in Koosharem, a cupboard in Julia's home and one in Hannah's home being used by Marguerite" Brown Coleman. One of the things he is remembered most for was his constant moving. He would stack a large pile of logs to saw, then move his sawmill to another location. He built a house to live in at the saw mills that was one large room made out of lumber and put on wheels so it could easily be moved around. He made an air tight log stable out of hewed logs for Mr. Parker to keep his race horses in and the building is still standing and in very good condition down on the Herb Gleve (Parker) ranch in Grass Valley. Probably all during his life he was mechanically minded and always anxious to learn. During his early manhood he wanted to learn how to take the welt out of a saw. He knew a man who could have shown him but he wanted to keep the information to himself. One day when the man didn't know that Grandpa was around he was working on a saw and Grandpa peeked through the keyhole in his door and learned how to accomplish this task. He had the great gift, or talent of doing practical things which were so needed in Pioneer days as well as now. He passed this gift on to his posterity. It can be seen in the work of his sons, grandsons, and great grandsons as well as in many of his daughters down through the generations. In 1905 they moved to Monroe and ran a sawmill there and he still hauled his lumber to Salina and Nephi. On another trip he brought home a very gentle and good buggy horse for his wife. They called her "Old Ellie". After many good years of service she sold her horse to Christena. That was her only job, "to pull the buggy" and she was a blessing to the family. He loved little children so much and used to dance with them. Some¬times he would put little nieces of cotton on his whiskers to make him look like Santa Claus and would sit and smile nod his head. He was married once in polygamy to a woman from Redmond. They had one child named, Andrew, who was thrown from a horse and killed. He grew hard of hearing in his later life, however he could always hear, "Oats for his horse and Cream for his tummy." Hans died 24 April 1919 at the age of 77 in Koosharem, Utah and is buried there by his lovely wife, to arize together on the morning of the First Resurrection. (From Nettie Hallows, Helen Winget, Della Bagley, Margureite Brown Coleman; compiled by Louise B. Johansen.)

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Hans and Annie were married in Bragernes, Drammen, Buskerud, on 13 December 1863. His name was spelled Thorgersen in the Official Parish Register for Bragernes Parish Marriages page 129 of the marriage records.
greche
2013-12-02

This is a fabulous life sketch. Thank you for posting it. The following is a bit of additional information provided by Janita Black (great granddaughter of Hans and Annie). She shared this information in a newsletter to her children and grandchildren. There does seem to be conflicting information about the name of the son born in 1875 (Edwin vs. Erik/Eric/Erick), but the rest of the information seems to match: Hans Torgerson & Annie Gurine Christiansdatter were married in the Bragernes, Norway church 13 Dec, 1862. They lived for 10 years in Haugsund where 4 of their children were born. They joined the church in the 1860's & emigrated in 1875 with other Norwegian converts. The journey was a long one from Drammen where they then lived, to Christiania (Oslo), Copenhagen, Denmark, across the North Sea to Hull, England, train to Liverpool, ship to New York, train to Salt Lake City, wagon to Ephraim, Utah. The family settled in for their first winter in the new land & Nov 6, 1875 Anne gave birth to a boy they named Erik who lived a few months & died 4 Feb, 1876. As per old Norwegian custom of names, once a name was chosen & given to a child & that child died in infancy, that name was given to the next child born of the same gender. Thus, the name Erik was given to the 2nd son born in the new land. (This was my Grandfather Eric-Father of Grandpa LaVerl.) In 1878 a small wagon train formed to move to Grass Valley. The first winter must have been a hard one. During the summer they had heard of the "fabulous Fishlake," lying about 15 miles east of the valley. During the winter they made trips to the lake, riding horses in deep snow, snowshoed on to the lake pulling a small sled. Once there they dipnetted sacks of fish, which provided a necessary protein for the family & were bartered with others for other commodities. As the family grew & prospered in Grass Valley (Koosharem now) the family soon began the "sawmill stage." I hope these family history stories will help you all appreciate the heritage of strong, hard working ancestors you have been blessed with & recognize some of their trying lives & sacrifices that we might enjoy the freedoms, peace & security that are now ours.

BlackT
2014-11-17